NEW DELHI: India's coal imports increased by 32 per cent to 148.58 million tonne (MT) in April-February FY23 against 112.38 MT in the year-ago period, according to a report.

The import of coking coal rose 7.69 per cent to 50.50 MT during April-February FY23 compared to 46.89 MT a year ago, mjunction said in its latest report.

In February 2023 alone, the non-coking coal import stood at 11.68 MT against 9.42 MT in the same month last year. Coking coal imports were 4.40 MT against 4.03 MT imported in February 2022.

India is among the top five coal-producing countries in the world. However, some parts of its coal requirement are met through imports as the country is also among the major consumers of the dry fuel.

For coking coal - a key raw material used in steel making - the country remains heavily dependent on imports. mjunction MD Vinaya Varma said,

''The softening of seaborne prices coupled with high domestic demand resulted in continued buying interest among Indian traders and consumers''. However, the increased domestic supply and the healthy stock position may restrict the volumes in the coming month, he added.

Kolkata-based mjunction is a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce joint venture between Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).

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